Unemployed Hong Kong man gets 32 months in jail for selling stun guns, batons online amid protests
- Defence lawyer says his client Chiu Tsz-fung was merely hoping to profit from anti-government protests by trading weapons to demonstrators
- But district judge says the stun guns – capable of producing high-voltage electric shocks – could have caused grievous bodily harm to others
Chiu Tsz-fung was sentenced at the District Court on Monday after he was found on November 1, 2019, with 12 tasers and 21 extendable batons he was about to sell to an undercover police officer posing as an anti-government protester.
Upon arrest, the 31-year-old unemployed man admitted he had been selling weapons since October 2019, after buying them on mainland Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao, in a bid to clear a HK$300,000 (US$38,687) credit card debt.
The prosecution said Chiu came onto the police radar after he posted images of batons for sale on his Facebook page, describing the weapons as poles used for “renovation” – a euphemism for vandalism.
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The undercover officer contacted Chiu on WhatsApp on October 25, expressing interest in buying.
During the subsequent negotiation, Chiu claimed the tasers were capable of “knocking out” police officers in one minute, and suggested his batons could be used to break wooden barriers in banks. The two struck a deal a week later, with Chiu agreeing to sell 10 tasers and 20 batons for HK$12,400.
Chiu was arrested when he went to meet the officer at a park in Shek Kip Mei, but claimed that he only helped deliver the goods. He admitted he was the dealer after police found more weapons alongside protest paraphernalia inside his locker at a game arcade in Mong Kok.
Chiu pleaded guilty to one count each of unlicensed dealing in arms and possessing prohibited weapons before District Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che.
Prosecutors had agreed not to charge Chiu with the weapons found in his locker to get him to plead guilty to the two allegations.
An expert report revealed that Chiu’s stun guns were able to discharge more than 6,000 volts – 10 times stronger than a normal electric shock.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Kevin Tang Tsz-kai said his client was merely an opportunist who hoped to profit from the protests by selling weapons to demonstrators. He said Chiu did not bear ill feelings towards police, adding that respirators and gloves found in his locker were intended for decoration workers.
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But Yiu said the offences were aggravated by the fact the seized tasers were much stronger than a normal stun gun, and that Chiu committed the crime at the height of the protest movement.
“Had criminals laid hands on the weapons, they could have caused grievous bodily harm to others,” Yiu said.
The judge set a jail term of 42 months and 30 months respectively for the arms and prohibited weapons offences, before passing a total sentence of 32 months in consideration of Chiu’s guilty plea.
